26/03/2008

New on Kamera: Strange Culture

Lynn Hershman's film Strange Culture deals with the very urgent issue of the corrosion of freedom of speech in the name of the 'war on terrorism'. With Tilda Swinton, Thomas Jay Ryan and Peter Coyote in the cast, the film chronicles the ongoing case of the American art professor and activist Steve Kurtz, a co-founder of the Critical Art Ensemble, who has become the most prominent victim of post-9/11 paranoia.

On May 11 2004, Kurtz woke up to find his wife dead in bed next to him. When the medics arrived, they deemed the harmless bacteria which Kurtz was working with for a project as suspicious material and alerted the FBI. The organisation quickly jumped to the conclusion that Kurtz was a bioterrorist, despite all their suspicions being disproved. He now awaits a trial date. Hershman's Strange Culture re-enacts some of the episodes of Kurtz's Kafkian nightmare so far, creating a hybrid of documentary and discussion, with the actors encouraged to talk about their characters, their own work and the situation.

The film is now available on both Region 1 and Region 2 DVD. Click here for more information.